Cast:

Air Dates:

CBS on 9/7/74,
9/6/75 - 9/3/77 (as part of the Shazam!/Isis Hour),
brought back for reruns on 1/5/80.

Number of Episodes:

28

Plot Synopsis:

Traveling across the country in an RV, teen ager Billy Batson and his adult companion, Mentor, would encounter various situations that would require their help. Whenever their help was needed, a flashing light on the dashboard of the RV would start beeping and blinking (Holy Batphone!) and would summon the elders (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury), who would give him some cryptic advice needed for the emerging situation.
By yelling the word, "Shazam" (the word is an anacronym for all of the elders' names), Billy would turn into Captain Marvel, an adult hero with the power of flight, super speed, and super strength. As Captain Marvel, he would use his powers to capture criminals, save those in distress, and right any other wrongs that came up.

Comments:

When this first aired, I was disappointed to find out that the show wasn't anything like the comic books (when the show became a hit, the comic was altered to resemble the tv show and Uncle Marvel grew a Mentor-like mustache as he and Billy traveled the country in an RV). In the comic books, Captain Marvel played a major part in the story and fought villains like Dr. Sivana (an evil genius) and his family, Mr. Mind (an evil worm with strong mental powers), and Black Adam (an evil version of Captain Marvel). In the series, Captain Marvel never fought super villains, only small time crooks, and he would only appear for a few minutes each episode. He would save the day and then deliver the moral of the story - and in case you missed the moral, Billy or the Captain would repeat it during the closing segment. Occassionally, Captain Marvel would team up with Isis.